Serving as the U.S. attorney for the Southern District of Iowa was an incredible privilege and a responsibility unlike any other. Every day that I went to work, I knew we weren’t just prosecuting crimes, we were upholding the rule of law, and each decision — from the cases we brought to court to our public comments about them — impacted the public’s faith in equal justice. Iowa is a place where we take comfort in the bedrock belief that no one is above the law, not even the president.

Today, a thousand miles from Des Moines, events in Washington, D.C., are testing that principle, But two Iowans can help ensure that we remain true to our values. It is critical that we protect the independence and integrity of Special Counsel Robert Mueller’s investigation.

The eyes of the nation are on Iowa in this moment. Our senior senator, Chuck Grassley, is turning over the reins of the Judiciary Committee in the next Congress, but he must not walk away from his commendable work to bring both parties together around legislation to protect the special counsel. Sen. Joni Ernst has not supported that bill. She should join with Sen. Grassley in supporting bipartisan legislation that would protect not just Mueller, but all future special counsels.

My predecessor, U.S. Attorney, Matt Whitaker, is now acting attorney general and oversees the Office of Special Counsel, with power over its budget, staffing, and prosecutorial decisions. You need only refresh your memory about his predecessor, Attorney General Jeff Sessions, for proof that Whitaker will be under enormous pressure from President Trump to curtail the Mueller investigation. Sessions was on the receiving end of over 20 tweets from the president slamming his decision to rightfully recuse himself from overseeing Mueller or demanding he shut down the investigation. Now that burden is on Whitaker.

When Mueller wants to pursue a credible allegation or determine whether evidence supports indicting someone for a crime, Whitaker makes the final decisions about whether Mueller can continue to follow the facts. If the president decides to fire Mueller, Whitaker is the chief law enforcement official who would carry out that order.

Mueller’s record so far speaks for itself and gives him the right to complete his investigation. Mueller has already won eight guilty pleas including from President Trump’s campaign chairman, personal lawyer, national security advisor, and deputy campaign manager.

It falls to Whitaker — as well as Grassley and Ernst — to make sure Mueller has the ability to get to the bottom of Russia’s attacks on our elections and whether Trump, his family, or his campaign committed a crime. Because no one is above the law, not even the president.

The Mueller investigation is threatened like never before. Trump has grown more confrontational since his longtime lawyer and “fixer” Michael Cohen pleaded guilty and began cooperating with Mueller. The president dangled a pardon to his former campaign chairman Paul Manafort after he lied and refused to cooperate with the Justice Department. The president praised Roger Stone in a tweet for stating that he will never testify against him.

Whitaker and Trump's nominee to be the next attorney general, William Barr, can help pull us back from the political precipice. An overwhelming majority of the American people want Mueller to complete his investigation and believe they have the right to see Mueller’s final report. The leader of the Department of Justice should commit to giving Mueller the ability to follow the facts and complete the probe. That leader also should commit to giving the American people the same set of facts the White House and Congress will have once the investigation is finished by making the final report public — letting facts, not tweets, tell the truth Americans demand and deserve.

This is a tough time for America. Our national conversation has become just a series of shouted insults. We can do better than this — but it will only happen if Iowans speak powerful truths, straight from the heartland.

Nick Klinefeldt served as the United States attorney for the Southern District of Iowa from 2009 to 2015.

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